Trail Blazers shootaround: Other playoff series serve as reminders for Portland to stay focused

HOUSTON – After the Trail Blazers’ Game 1 overtime victory Sunday in their first-round series against Houston, coach Terry Stotts had a handy reminder to help keep his players focused as they prepared for Game 2 later today at the Toyota Center:

Of the five first-round series that have already played a Game 2, four have ended with the Game 1 loser winning to even the series 1-1. And of the five teams that opened the playoffs with a road win, so far only Washington has been able to win a second away game to take a 2-0 lead.

“I think it’s a benefit for us to watch these other games and see how teams have recovered from Game 1,” Blazers coach Terry Stott said before his team’s morning shootaround at the Toyota Center. “It’s a good example for our guys.”

The most jarring result might have come in the Golden State-Los Angeles Clippers series.

“Golden State, they went into L.A. and won, and they lost by 30 (in Game 2),” Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge said. “So it’s just to keep you locked into how much work it took and how it’s going to be.”

Washington set an example of what the Blazers would like to do. The Wizards, who like the Blazers are a No. 5 seed, won at Chicago 102-93 in Game 1, then came back and won Game 2 101-92 in overtime on Tuesday.

“It wasn’t a perfect game, but they stick around and make timely plays and get timely stops, and kept up the energy, mostly importantly,” Blazers point guard Damian Lillard said. “They were able to stay together two times in a row. We got a chance to see what not to do that could get us blown out, and we saw what could give us a chance to come out and steal another game.”

The Blazers realize that a bounce, a different foul call or a free throw or two in Game 1 could have left them with a 1-0 deficit. They used the two days between games to try to keep the focus they will need.

"I liked our focus going into this series, we’ve had two good days where we’ve been able to do a little recuperation," Stotts said. "I think our focus has been good the two days as far as what we need to do going into Game 2."